Conventional cable winding apparatus consists of an engine driving a cable drum, about which is wound cable, thereby applying a tension force to the cable. In order to prevent damage to the cable, it is necessary for the cable to be uniformly wound about the drum, with no kinks, tangles or cross-overs. In addition, a greater quantity of cable can be wound about a drum of a given size if the cable has been wound uniformly.
Prior art attempts to uniformly guide the cable wound upon a cable drum have met with various deficiencies on certain types of equipment. One prior art technique employs a solid roller which is forced against the cable as it is wound upon the drum. Experience has shown that this approach has not been reliable for producing uniformly wound patterns for cable wound in multiple layers on the drum in particular applications where loads vary and cable fleet angles are greater than normal. Another prior art technique for uniformly winding a cable onto a drum has employed a non-rotating member such as a spring or a resilient web which applies a small, axially directed force on the cable to force it against the last wound portion of the cable on the drum during the winding operation. These prior art approaches uniformly suffer from the problem of imparting great frictional forces between the spring or web member and the cable, reducing the efficiency of operation of the winch mechanism and increasing the wear and tear on the cable itself. Clearly what the prior art requires is an apparatus which can uniformly wind a cable onto a drum without imparting large frictional forces.